Adams trust fund manager sues Quincy and historical group

Wednesday

Jul 23, 2014 at 10:11 PMJul 23, 2014 at 10:15 PM

Patrick Ronan The Patriot Ledger @pronan_Ledger

QUINCY – The manager of a trust fund established by President John Adams is suing the Quincy Historical Society and the city, alleging that the society hasn’t paid enough rent to use the historical Adams Academy building for the past 40 years.

Earlier this year, Boston lawyer James DeGiacomo, the court-appointed manager of a trust established by Adams in 1822 to benefit Quincy schoolchildren, filed a lawsuit asserting that the trust fund should be compensated for decades of being underpaid for private use of the Adams Academy building. The building, which housed a school from 1872 to 1908, was constructed on land donated to the city by Adams and was built with money from the trust fund.

DeGiacomo’s suit stems from a 2011 ruling by Norfolk County Probate Court Judge Robert Langlois, who stripped Quincy of its trustee duties of the Adams fund and said the city mismanaged the fund for about 50 years. Langlois later named DeGiacomo the new trust manager.

Among Quincy’s missteps, Langlois said, was the 50-year lease the city signed the Adams Historical Society, a private nonprofit, in 1972. The lease, valid through 2022, requires the historical society to pay $100 a month for use of the Adams Academy building, which is at the corner of Adams and Hancock streets in Quincy Center.

Langlois determined that the $100-per-month rent was “nominal” and ran counter to the requirement that trustees derive the highest possible return from land it owns.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld Langlois’ ruling that the city mismanaged the trust fund. However, the court rejected the $3 million in damages that was awarded to the Woodward School for Girls, now the fund’s main beneficiary, ordering that the damage amount be recalculated.

DeGiacomo’s suit against the historical society and the city went before the Supreme Judicial Court in February. DeGiacomo could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Edward Fitzgerald, executive director of the Quincy Historical Society, disagreed with DeGiacomo’s contention, saying the historical society has invested more than $1 million of its own resources into the maintenance and preservation of the building.

In April, the historical society filed a counterclaim against DeGiacomo, arguing that if the lease is rescinded or deemed invalid, the trust should reimburse the society for funds used to care for the building.

Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @PRonan_Ledger.